Apparatus for making chenille fabric



Jan. 17, 1933. R B. KALBACH' 1,894,463

APPARATUS FOR MAKING CHENILLE FABRIC Filed Aug. 27, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet l 23 m mwro/r mm Ess:

Fay/" 77G215. 7(a/fiac v wl X Jan. 17, 1933. R. s. KALBACH APPARATUS FOR MAKING CHENILLE FABRIC Filed Aug. 27, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Jan. 17, 1933 rreur orrica RAYMOND'B. KALBACI-I, F .PEILADELEHIA, PENNSYLVANIA APPARATUS non MAKING GFENILLE FABRIC Application filed August 27, 1930. Serial No. 477,998.

This invention, stated in its broadest terms, relates to chenille formation andhas more especial relation to the fabrication of which I choose to term braid chenille.

As is well known in the art, chenille is manufactured upon a loom the disadvantages of which i are numerous. As an example, chenille as woven upon a loom may be readily pulled apart because the weft yarn is not efiiciently bound by the warp yarn. Again, chenille as woven upon a 100111 is restricted as to its shape or form and its color schemes for obvious reasons.

This invention has for its leading object to overcome the above and other disadvantages of weaving chenille upon a loom by forming chenille upon a braiding or twisting machine whereby flat braid chenille having one or more cores forming a base may be fabricated, or a double pile braid chenille may be made with or without'any cores to form a base in which the strands of yarn going to make up the chenille in both instances can- I not readily be separated, and likewise in which the color scheme is expansive. since as many as one hundred or more colors, shades or tones may beeffectedapproximately covering one inch or less throughout the extent of the chenille. I

A further object of the present invention is to fabricatebraid chenille upon a braiding or twisting machine, whereby strands of ma-' terial such as wool, cotton, jute, paper, rags, and the like may be employed in the making of chenile in accordance with theinvention.

A still further object of the present invention resides in the provision of apparatus embodying novel features designed to pro: duce chenille of the character stated in the foregoing objects.

With these and related objects in View, the invention consists of the novel method and apparatus for producing braid chenille as hereinafter described and finally claimed.

The nature, characteristic features and scope of the invention will be more fully understood from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings forming part hereof and in which:

'Kfj' Fig. 1 1s a v1ew m front elevation of a novel braiding machine arranged for the manufacture of braid chenille in accordance with the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a view in side elevation of the upper part of Fig. 1;

I Fig. 3 is an elevational view of the sewing machine parts as shown in the foregoing figures in detached relation;

Fig. 4 is a view in perspective illustrating the position of the braid with relation to the sewing machine cutting device for the sever: ing of yarn to complete chenille;

Fig. 5 is a view in cross-section of the braid priorJto being presented for the severing of yarn to form chenille;

v Fig. 6 is a similar view illustrating the braid yarn as severed to form hat may be termed single edge chenille;

Fig.7 is a similar view illustrating the yarn severed to form what may be termed coreless double edge chenille;

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary view in cross-section of my novel chenille fabric; and

Fig. 9, is a view of the underside of Fig. 8.

' For the purpose of illustrating my invene tion I have shown in the accompanying drawe ings one form thereof which is at present preferred by me, since the same has been found in practice to give satisfactory and reliable results, although it is to be understood that the various instrumentalities of which my invention consists can be variously arranged and organized and that my invention is not limited tothe precise arrangement and organization of the instrumentalities as here-, in shown and described.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, the reference numeral 10 designates the main driving shaft of a braiding machine of any desired type which shaft is operably connected to drive in a tortuous path a plurality of bobbins 11, so that the yarn 12 from the bobbins 11 is twisted together in the shape of the figure 8 shown in Fig. 5, as is well understood in the art of fashioning braid. In braid formation the yarn 12 is drawn upwardly between and by means of feed rollers 13 and 14:. The feed roller 1a is fixed to cross horizontal shaft 15' rotatable in a fixed bracket 26, which shaft 15 is pro- 100 vided with a gear wheel 16 meshing with a gear wheel 17 fixed to a short horizontal shaft 18 having a worm gear 19 in mesh with a worm gear 20 fixed to vertical shaft 21, which operably connected by means of bevel gear wheels22 and23 with the main driving shaft 10, see Fig. 1. The cross horizontal shaft 15 as operated in the manner just set forth has fixed thereto a gear wheel 24 in mesh with a gear wheel 25 fixed to a short shaft 27 paralleling shaft 15 and journalled in a bracket 28, so that as the main driving shaft 10 operates the braiding mechanism the rollers 13 and 14 operate to. draw upwardly the yarn from the bobbins and feed the braid as formed in a relatively fiat condition to stitching and cutting mechanism to be presently described as mounted thereabove, it being understood that the above described parts are properly timed to efliciently function. The braiding machine is provided adjacent the bobbins 11 with a fixed hollow member 29 through which yarn 30 to form a core or stuffer is drawn upwardly over roller 31 to a fixed tubular guide 32, best seen in F 1, it being understood that the core yarn 30 passes along with the yarn 12 between the rollers 13 and 14 before described. In opposed relation with respect to member 29 through which the core yarn 30 is fed is a fixed support 33 secured to which is a relatively thin bar 34 of rectangular cross-section which extends upwardly in parallelism with the path of travel of the core yarn and binding yarn, as plainly seen in Fig. 1, be-

tween the rollers 13 and 14 and terminates adjacent sewingmechanism to be presently described. This fixed'bar 34 is inclined at 35 at about the same inclination as the tubular guidef32 so as to be free of the travel of the bobbins 11. The upper end. of the inclined guide 32 is provided with an upwardly eX- tended, flaring, open ended tip 36 which eX- tends substantially in parallelism wit-h the vertical portion; of fixed guide bar 34 above its inclined portion 35 and lies inclose juxtaposition to said vertical ,portion of bar 34 immediately above the. bobbins 11. In practice as the core yarn and'binding yarn, which latter is usually colored and the tints, shades, and combinations of which are practically unlimited. are fed together'to the position A.A in Fig. 1, at which point the core yarn 30 and fixed bar 34 has braided with respect thereto the binding yarn 12, it being understood that as the feed rollers 13 and 14 draw upwardly the combined yarns, those strands of the binding yarn which surround the fixed bar 34, as plainly seen in Fig. 5, are sufficiently loses to be readily guided over and along the bar 35 to stitching mechanism now to be described vMounted upon the fixed upright frame 38 of thebraiding machine which carries the brackets 26 and 28 is a sewing machine 39,

best seen in Fig. 3. This sewing machine is. 3

equipped with several novel features, as will presently appear, and has its base bolted at 40 to the frame 38, as best seen in Fig.2,so

that its needle 41, connected with respect to conventional operating lever 42, operative by connections with the drive shaft of the sewing'machine, functions in a horizontal posi tion as clearly shown in Fig. 2. The lever 42' which also operates the shuttle mechanism of the sewing machine has pivoted thereto at 43 ahorizontally arranged link 44 whichhas pivotal relation, at 45 with a vertically ar y ranged arm 46 which has fulcrumed relation with the sewing machine base and has pivoted to'its free end a horizontally extended'link 47 which link inturn has pivotal relationat 48 with the movable cutter b1ade49 of a severing device. The movable blade 49, has

pivotal relation at 51 with the top of the yarn guide bar 34 which latter is fixed as at- 52 to the fixed bracket 53 carried by the sewing machine. Thus the movable blade 49 .in

operation functions in connection with the vertical edge of the fixed yarn guide bar 34 to sever the loops of the binding yarn 12. The cutting device is mounted immediately above the needle 41 ofthe sewing "machine and the bar 34 is so arranged that itpasses to one side of the needle in order to permit proper functioning of the needle in making a line of stitches 54,see Fig. 5, between the core-filled strands and the strands covering the bar 34, said line of stitches paralleling the core and bar. In order to properly di-v rect the braided material with respect to the needle 41 a guide 55 of U-shaped cross-section is provided, see Fig. 3, adjustable by wing nuts 56 coacting with a slot 57 in said guide. In order to drive the sewingmachine shaft 43 which operates-the needle 41 through lever 42 I provide a horizontally arranged pulley 58 upon vertical shaft 21 and connect the same with vertically arranged pulley 59 upon shaft 43 of the sewing machine by means of a belt 60 passing over guide rollers 61, see Fig. 1. With the braided material, stitched as described it becomes necessary to cut or sever the yarn 12 surrounding the fixed guide bar 34 to form'the pile threads 61, see Fig. 6, for the production chenille. The'movable blade 49 previously described functions in connection with the edge of the 7 upon shafts 64 and 65, provided with meshl ing gear wheels to operate in unison, shaft 65 having fixed thereto a pulley 66 connected I by belt 67 with a driving pulley 68 fixed to cross shaft 15, as best seen in Fig. 2.' The,

chenille thus produced is drawn over roller f69 and-"guided through thehorizontally arranged, fixed tube '70 between the friction rollers 62 and ,63 and thence downwardly over roller 7.1 supported upon upright 72,.which also carries the friction roller shafts 64; and 65. It will be understood that the above operation is continuous and uninterrupted and that the braiding, stitching, and severing operations occur in sequential relation until the finished chenille passes from the apparatus as shown in Fig. 2.

It now becomes necessary to fabricate the chenillethus fashioned upon a braiding ma of illustration that a floorcovering is to be n1ade, l.assemble the core containing portions of the chenille in alignment, as shown in Figs. 8 and 9, and stitch together as at 7 3 adjacent core containing portions.

In case a double pile chenille without a coreisdesired, a pair of the fixed guide bars 34- are employed, and instead of braiding or twisting the strands ofyarn around the core 30, as before described, the yarn is braided or twisted aroundboth guide 'bars and sewn and the loops severed as shown in Fig. 7;

In case a double pile chenille with a core is desired a pair of guide bars '34 are employed, one upon each side of the core, and those loops enclosing the core are sewn and severed as before described.

In the above description I have referred to'the chenille as being formed upon a braiding machine because in practice thechenille thus formed has proven to be for commercial purposes most satisfactory. Practice dictates, however, that my chenille may be made upon a so-ealled twisting machine in which a strip of material, spirally wound, may be fabricated and cut to form chenille. The specification and claims accordingly are to be interpreted to include any continuous strip of'material formed of yarn the strands of which are braided, plaited, or spirally wound and bound together and severed as described.

I am aware that the/invention may be em bodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential attributes thereof, and I therefore desire the present embodiment to be considered in all respects '1 as illustrative and not restrictive, reference being bad to the appended claims rather than to the foregoing description to indicate the scope of the invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. Apparatus for making chenille comprising a vertical supporting structure, bobbins arranged for movement in a tortuous path carried by said structure, bobbin operating means, sew.ing mechanism arranged in a plane above said bobbins and carried by said vertical supporting structure, means arranged between said bobbin operating means and mechanism, means for presenting the twisted and. branded yarn to the needle of said sewing mechanism for making a continuous line of stitches substantially in parallelism with the side edges of said twisted and braided yarn and severing'means arranged beyond the sewing mechanism for cutting at least one side edge of the twisted and braided material substantially in parallelism with said line of stitches.

2.Apparatus for making chenille comprising a vertical supporting'structure, bobbins arranged for movement in a tortuous path carried by said structure, bobbin operating means, sewing mechanism arranged in sewing mechanism for operating said sewing 70 a plane above said bobbins and carried by said vertical supporting structure, means arranged between said bobbin operating means and sewing mechanism for operating said sewing mechanism, means including a fixed guide bar for presenting twisted and braided yarn to the needle of said sewing mechanism for making a continuous line of stitches sub stantially in parallelism with the side edges of said twisted and braided yarn and severing means arranged beyond the sewing mechanism for cutting at least one side edge of the twisted and braided material substantially in parallelism with said line of stitches. I 3. Apparatus for making chenille comprising a vertical supporting structure, bobbins arranged for movement in a tortuous path carried by said structure, bobbin operating means, sewing mechanism arranged in a plane above said bobbins and carried by said vertical supporting structure, means arranged between said bobbin operating means and sewing mechanism for operating said sewing mechanism, means for presenting the twisted and braided yarn to the needle of said sew plane above said bobbins and carriedby said vertical supporting structure, means arranged between said bobbin operating'means and sewlng mechamsmfor operat ng said sewing mechanism, means including a fixed guide bar for presenting the twisted f and braided yarn to the needle of said sewing side edges of said twisted and braided yarn and severing-:means arranged beyond the sewing mechanism for cutting at least one side edge ofthe twisted and braided material I substantially in parallelism with said line of stitches, and means operably connected with the drive .shaft of the braiding means forfeeding the braided yarn along said gu de bar.'

- 5. In a chenille making machine the combination of a fixed vertical guide bar arranged to guide a. core in parallelismtherewith, said core being adapted to receive a plle-forming-yar'n, braiding means lncludmg bobbins arranged for" travel in a tortuous path for 'dellverlng yarn to said-core and fixed vertical guide bar to form a strip of braided -material around said core'and fixed vertical guide, sewing mechanism arranged above the braiding means for forming a continuous line of stitches in said braided material intermediate said core and fixed vertical guide bar, while the pile-forming yarn is still braidedaround said fixe'dvertical guide bar, and a severing device for cutting the pile-forming yarn while-it still incases the fixed vertical guide bar to form a pile.

6. In a chenille making machine the combination of a fixed vertical guide bar arranged to'guide a core in parallelism therewith, said core being adapted to receive a pile-forming yarn, braiding means including bobbins arranged for travel in a tortuous path for delivering yarn to said core and fixed vertical guide bar to'form a strip of braided material around said core and fixed vertical guide sewing mechanism including a horizon tally operable needle, arranged abovethe braiding means for forming a continuous line of stitches in said braided material intermediate said core and fixed vertical guide bar While the pile forming yarn is still braided around said fixed vertical guide bar, and a severing device for cutting the-pile-forming yarn while it still incases the fixed vertical 7 guide bar to form a pile, a main drive shaft for operating the braiding means, and means connecting said drive shaft with said severing device and needle for operation in unison.

7'. A chenille making machine comprising a frame having yarn braiding means mounted thereon, a horizontal drive shaft for operating said braiding means, a sewing ma chine fixed to said frame above said braiding means, a feed shaft paralleling the drive shaft and arranged between said braiding means and said sewing machine to advance braided'yarn to said sewing machine, a vertically disposed shaft operatively connecting said drive and feed shafts, a pile cutting device carried by said sewing machine and operable by the needle driving mechanism thereof, and driving means connecting said vertical shaft with the needle driving mech-' anism of said sewing machine.

8; A chenille making machine comprising I a frame having'yarn braiding means mounted thereon, a horizontal drive shaft for operating said braiding means, a sewingmachine fixed to said frame above said braiding means, a feed shaft paralleling the drive shaft and arranged between said braiding means and saidsewing machine to advance braidedyarn to'sald sewlngmachme, a vertically disposed shaft operatlvely connecting said drive and feed shafts, a pile-cutting device carried by said sewing machine and operable by the needle driving mechanism thereof, and driving means connecting said vertical shaft with the needle-driving mechanism of said sewing machine, chenille withdrawing rollers carried by said frame beyond the pile cutting device and means connecting said feed shaft with said withdrawing rollers. V 9. A chenille making machine comprisin a frame having yarn braiding means mounts thereon, a horizontal drive shaft for operatf ing said braiding means, a sewing machine fixed to said frameabove said braiding.

means, a feed shaft paralleling the drive shaft and arranged between said braiding means and said sewing machine to advance braided yarn to said sewing machine, a vertic'ally disposed shaft operatively'connecting said drive and feed shafts, a pile-cutting device carried by said sewingmachine and operable by the needle driving mechanism thereof, anddriving means connecting said vertical shaft withthe needle driving mechanism of said sewing machine, and a fixed yarn guide bar arranged vertically of said frame and extending from said braiding means to said cutting device passing to one side of the sewing machine needle.

10. A chenille making machine. comprising a frame having yarn braiding means mounted thereon, a horizontal drive shaft foroperating said braiding means, a sewing machine fixed to said frame above said braiding means, 'a feed shaft paralleling the drive shaft and arranged between said braiding means and said sewing machine to advance braided yarn to said sewing machine, a-vertically disposed shaft operatively connecting said drive and feed shafts, a pile-cutting device carried by said sewing machine and operable by the needle driving mechanism thereof, and driving means connecting said vertical shaft with the needle driving mechanism of said sewing machine, and" adjustable means arranged upon said sewing machine.

RAYMOND B. KALBAOH. 

